Volunteer Tourism Essay Example

Volunteer Tourism

Volunteer tourists also lias with local organizations through which they channel their funds which helps avoid embezzlement of funds ensuring maximum benefit to the intended recipients in the local communities (Ellis, 2001). The direct financial support ensures local employment and improved facilities to the host communities.Volunteer tourism has been economically beneficial to the local communities where the activities take place. Volunteer tourist groups sometimes partner with local organizations to offer services in the community (Wearing, 2001). These projects such as orphanages provide job opportunities to the members of the community where they are situated. Economic benefits also come in the form of business. When these groups decide to put up a building, the building materials are purchased in the area enabling local businesses to get economic gains. Another advantage of volunteer tourism is the welfare benefits that it affords to the locals. By setting up orphanages, centres that care for the elderly or even medical camps, volunteer tourism renders welfare benefits. Other welfare benefits that host communities receive from volunteer tourism are youth programmes, counseling and free medical clinic (Sin, 2009). This goes a long way in improving the lives of the host communities.Culture exchange is another advantage of volunteer tourism (Callanan and Thomas). During their interaction with the local communities, volunteers get to influence and get influenced by the culture of the communities where they serve. Most tourism volunteers are from the west whose culture is always viewed as affluent by these communities. Their interaction with these communities therefore steer the communities towards westernization. Experience is also another advantage obtained from volunteer tourism (Robert, 2011). It gives both the helper and the helped memorable experiences that last a lifetime. The experience in volunteer tourism has led to sustained services in host communities because volunteers return to these communities to relieve their experiences (Ellis, 2007)Despite having a positive impact, volunteer tourism has been blamed for promoting a culture of dependency. Trends in volunteer tourism show that most volunteer mission take care of the elderly, children, refugees, counseling and other social services. These services are mostly offered to in remote villages. When villages start,